The present disclosure relates to a rain gutter and more specifically a fluid flow channel with features to foster cyclonic circulation within the channel to eject debris.
Conventional rain gutter systems include generally horizontal gutters to collect water from a roof surface, and vertical downspouts to drain water from the gutters to the ground below. A problem with such gutters is that they also accumulate debris such as leaves. These accumulations must be removed from time to time, and someone standing on a ladder typically does this manually.
Cyclonic clearing of debris, from a channel used for rainwater conveyance, serendipitously discovered while testing a channel adapted to a fluid flow scavenging system without the benefit of the scavenger assembly. The fluid flow scavenging system is the subject of pending application Ser. No. 12/930,218.
Environmental tests of the fluid flow channel without a scavenger system showed it to be unusually clear for its location relative to tree foliage and expected debris deposition rates. Initial observation showed a gutter channel would fill with leaf and seed litter and subsequent inspection showed a clear channel. It was then theorized that wind action was somehow interacting with the channel to eject leaf litter better than anticipated. To check if a similar result would be observed, testing was conducted on two additional homes with correlating outcomes. Video analysis, under controlled conditions, showed rotational movement of leaf litter in the channel prior to expelling, which is consistent with particle movement in cyclonic separation devices that harness vortical motion to separate particles from a gas.
A search of prior art gutter channel profiles has shown that none appear to efficiently harness cyclonic circulation as a means to eject debris from a gutter channel. An extensive search of gutter profiles that could potentially act in a similar manner found the Victorian Ogee profile, common in Great Britain, to be relevant prior art. Testing of a simulated Victorian Ogee profile showed it was not well optimized to take advantage of cyclonic separation.
Other prior art shows ogee wooden gutter profiles to also be relevant. None were tested as of the writing of this application. However, analysis of the shape in light of what this application reveals shows them to be suboptimal in terms of cyclonic separation as a debris ejection mechanism.
The present disclosure reveals what is a previously unharnessed functionality applied to rain gutters which can offer a lower cost simplified solution to the problem of maintaining clear rain gutters.